The St. Charles County Police Department is getting a little extra help in responding to people who are mentally ill.
A federal grant announced Tuesday will allow the department, which serves unincorporated areas of the county, to have a dedicated police officer who will review 911 calls in which a person is in need of ongoing mental health care. The department will also have access to a mental health clinician from Compass Health who will go on follow-up calls with that officer to help the person get access to ongoing treatment.
“It’s going to free our officers up from having to engage with the same individuals multiple times that are definitely a mental health issue, not a criminal issue, and then getting them the services they need,” said St. Charles County Police Chief Kurt Frisz.
St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann said his 12 years in the state legislature taught him a lot about criminal law.
“But I really didn’t understand how much intersection there is between mental health and crime until I became a judge,” he said. “It was amazing to see how many people that were there on criminal matters really needed assistance for their mental health needs as well.”
Additional help for St. Louis County
The St. Louis County Police Department already has a similar program. The grant adds five more clinicians who will respond to calls in the county.
Most officers in both St. Louis and St. Charles counties have received specialized training in de-escalating situations with individuals who are mentally ill. But they can still feel helpless when responding to a call involving someone in crisis, said Amy Konsewicz, regional director of behavioral health intake with SSM Health.
“When it comes to knowledge about the comprehensive resources in the St. Louis and St. Charles region, they are very grateful for our presence and for our ability to come and provide empathy and provide support and give a direction for that patient,” she said.
The $1.5 million grant will cover the cost of the new providers and the dedicated officer until June 2026. Officials with both departments said they will apply for additional funding after that.
In St. Louis, social workers have been responding alongside St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers to certain 911 calls since January 2021. An initial study of the program, Cops and Clinicians, found that it and another program to divert 911 calls to a mental health crisis hotline may have saved the city $2.8 million. There has been no follow-up to that first review, which was donated by Mastercard.
